A small gift from the ancestor

One spirit artifact and five magic artifacts-that was all the equipment-type magical treasures he owned.

Aside from those, Gao Jian also had three talisman treasures.

[Myriad Swords True Talisman] (high-grade talisman treasure)

This was the most lethal talisman treasure in Gao Jian's possession, and one of his key trump cards.

Once activated, it could conjure tens of thousands of radiant swords, each as powerful as a Foundation Establishment cultivator's full-force strike. A Nascent Soul sword cultivator had spent a little of their vital essence to create it, and his grandmaster had given it to him to save his life. It could easily obliterate a late-stage Golden Core cultivator.

[Black Bird True Treasure] (high-grade talisman treasure)

Another of Gao Jian's trump cards, it had been refined by a Nascent Soul cultivator at the cost of their vital essence. His master had given it to him for protection. It could summon a Truefire Black Bird with a wingspan of a thousand meters, its spread wings covering dozens of times the area of an aircraft carrier's deck. It, too, could easily obliterate a late-stage Golden Core cultivator.

When the Black Bird descended, heaven and earth changed color. Gao Jian was confident that this high-grade talisman treasure could easily annihilate a Nimitz Class aircraft carrier battle group. Wherever the Truefire Black Bird passed, even a behemoth like an aircraft carrier would melt into molten metal.

[Heavenly Book True Slip] (top-grade talisman treasure)

The Heavenly Book True Slip was a top-grade talisman treasure refined by his grandmaster, a mighty cultivator at the peak of late-stage Nascent Soul, at the cost of his own vital essence. Once activated, it could manifest a phantom Jade Slip thirty thousand meters long that loomed across the sky and blotted out the sun. It was powerful enough to briefly trap an early-stage Nascent Soul cultivator, but its greatest purpose was not to stop enemies-it was to deliver salvation.

Under Gao Jian's active control, the Heavenly Book True Slip could influence the weather across thousands of kilometers, releasing its stored spiritual energy of heaven and earth to bring down life-giving spiritual rain and nourish the land. Mortals bathed in that rain would be freed of disease and have their lives extended. It was a precious talisman treasure created specifically to save mortal dynasties and avert natural disasters.

These were the finest treasures in Gao Jian's possession: three single-use talisman treasures.

Talisman treasures were extremely precious even back home, and only Nascent Soul cultivators could refine them. Without an early-stage Nascent Soul master and a grandmaster at the peak of Nascent Soul, Gao Jian would never have been fortunate enough to obtain them.

These three talisman treasures were also Gao Jian's ultimate source of confidence in this world.

In theory, with these three talisman treasures...

Gao Jian was confident he could take the United States down with him.

Aside from those three precious talisman treasures, he also had over a hundred low- and mid-grade talismans.

Like a stack of banknotes in assorted denominations, Gao Jian had casually tossed these talismans onto the bed. They came in blue, red, gold, and green, and most were third-tier, with a few fourth-tier ones among them.

Wind-Riding Talismans, Fireball Talismans, Ice Spike Talismans, Wind Blade Talismans, Qi Shield Talismans, Lightning-Calling Talismans...

Their bursts of power were all on par with Foundation Establishment cultivators, and quite a few had utility functions. But every talisman he used was one fewer in his stock, so Gao Jian hated to spend them.

The talismans he normally used, such as the blue Soundproofing Talisman stuck to the wall and the "fix" talisman he had used earlier to secure the camera in space, were first-tier talismans he had drawn himself on yellow paper, using his own spiritual power.

Previously, Gao Jian had not dared to draw many, worried that his spiritual power might never recover.

Now, however, he knew his spiritual power would replenish rapidly as his stamina recovered. In the future, he could safely mass-produce these first-tier talismans in his spare time.

First-tier talismans were not particularly powerful. An offensive first-tier Sword Qi Talisman was roughly as strong as an ordinary person swinging an axe. At most, it could fell a ten-year-old poplar or leave a few sword marks on a boulder.

It was only a threat to rookies who had just begun Qi Refining.

It was a little more powerful than a bullet-about the strength of a rifle round.

But if Gao Jian drew a hundred of them, wouldn't that be the equivalent of a hundred bullets?

Wait... why didn't I buy a couple of assault rifles in the United States?

Gao Jian slapped his forehead. Not buying some local specialties in the United States to stash in his Storage Bag had been a real oversight.

Then again, under the circumstances at the time, buying a gun really would not have been easy.

Next time I get a chance to visit the United States, I have to buy more local specialties. If circumstances allow, I'll get some grenades, rocket launchers, and weapons like that, too. If I can't get them, I could always consider picking up some unwanted ones on the battlefields of eastern Ukraine.

Speaking of which, the fighting in eastern Ukraine had been going on for six or seven years. Why did it never end? After watching some battlefield footage and reading the casualty figures online, Gao Jian felt deeply troubled.

But his individual strength was limited, and he had never made up his mind to reveal himself... especially after learning of the enemies lurking in the shadows behind the world, he had to act even more cautiously. Even if he wanted to intervene, he had no idea where to begin.

Faced with the hotspots of localized conflict around the world, all he could do was heave a long sigh.

Rockets and grenades were equivalent to second-tier explosive talismans capable of threatening late-stage Qi Refining cultivators. He would still have to stock up on them when circumstances allowed.

His Storage Bag had been a gift from his grandmaster. It could fit a world into a mustard seed, with an enormous space inside. Leaving it empty was a waste anyway.

Gao Jian had officially entered "war preparation" mode.

He had finished taking stock of his spirit artifact, magic artifacts, talisman treasures, and talismans. That left pills and formations.

Gao Jian stared at the empty porcelain bottles lying askew on the bed and fell into thought.

Apart from the bottle containing the Dustless Memory Pill, the bottles that had held first- through sixth-tier pills were practically all empty. Only a handful still contained a pill or half a pill; most held nothing but a little pill dust.

"Ah..."

Gao Jian sighed again.

Pills were consumables. Relying on being able to replenish them whenever he returned to the sect, Gao Jian had always used them without restraint. By the time he returned, he would usually have swallowed every last one.

Being accidentally killed by a heavenly tribulation had happened far too suddenly. He had just exhausted his supply of pills and had yet to replenish it when he transmigrated here.

I'll refine some ungraded Herbal Pills to put in them later. Those empty porcelain bottles are depressing. Failing that, I'll put a couple of chocolate malt balls or M&M's in them.

As for formations...

Gao Jian turned his gaze to the two sets of formation disks on the bed.

His magical power was meager at early Foundation Establishment. He could casually set up a small formation like the miniature Boundless Golden Light Formation he had used in space earlier, but large formations required external aids such as formation disks and flags. He could not lay them out in empty space.

He had two sets of formation disks and flags in total: one water-aligned and one wood-aligned. That meant the only large formations he could deploy were ones with those corresponding attributes.

Moreover, formations consumed enormous amounts of spiritual power, making them difficult for Foundation Establishment cultivators to sustain. Normally, low-level cultivators had to place spirit stones in their formations as an energy source.

But spirit stones...

Looking at the three low-grade spirit stones lying on the bed, already dull and drained, their blue-green glow turned grayish-white, he turned his head away in pain.

Spirit stones were both cultivation resources and universal currency. However, everyday cultivation only required drawing in the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. Spiritual energy was abundant back home, and unless one was breaking through a bottleneck, there was generally no need to use spirit stones to assist cultivation. As a result, Gao Jian had mainly used his spirit stones as money.

Just before transmigrating, he happened to have spent a large quantity of spirit stones on that water-aligned set of formation disks. Since he himself had a water-aligned heavenly spiritual root, acquiring such a set had always been something he wanted. He had spent the remaining spirit stones eating and drinking in the market.

He could collect his regular stipend when he returned to the sect anyway, so if he spent everything, so be it. He had always lived paycheck to paycheck.

Now, however, Gao Jian had paid a terrible price for that habit. He had only three spirit stones left to his name...

If he could do it all over again, he would sell all three talisman treasures, his five magic artifacts, his one spirit artifact, both sets of formation disks and flags, and every last pill and talisman in one go, exchanging everything for spirit stones.

Unfortunately, there were no second chances.

His Storage Bag held so many treasures, yet he had only these three pitiful spirit stones to cultivate with.

Under the Green Bamboo Sword's jealous gleam, Gao Jian kept stroking the fist-sized spirit stone. Sensing the almost depleted spiritual energy inside it, he could not resist expending some of his own spiritual power to channel it back into the stone.

The spirit stone suddenly shone brightly.

As the spiritual power in his body steadily fell, the spirit stone grew fuller and fuller, changing from grayish-white back to that luminous blue-green.

Gao Jian stared at the spirit stone gradually filling up, stunned for a long while.

A moment later.

Officer Liu, who had just been about to fall asleep, suddenly heard a hysterical shout. It thundered through the entire hotel.

"Holy shit!!!"

The Soundproofing Talisman, capable of blocking 120 decibels, had actually failed to contain Gao Jian's excited shout. The sound overwhelmed the city's bustle, making even vendors setting up their breakfast stalls several streets away lift their heads and look toward its source.

Whose talking gas cylinder just exploded?

Jolted awake, Officer Liu quickly pulled a handgun from his briefcase and rushed along the wall to Gao Jian's doorway. Outside the door, he asked urgently, "What happened? What happened?! Are you all right?"

Gao Jian opened the door.

Officer Liu saw Gao Jian standing there with a rosy complexion.

Gao Jian said excitedly, "Officer Liu, it's daylight! Let's hurry home. I miss my grandpa. I've had enough sleep!"